The present invention relates to a plumbing bracket that can be used wherever the hot or cold water supply stubs out from a wall. For example, during the rough phase of residential construction, copper pipe is typically run to designated rising points and then a concrete foundation is poured encapsulating the copper pipes. At the rising point, the copper pipe extends vertically from the floor to a point where it is to exit the wall. At these points, the pipe is turned 90.degree. to exit the wall area for connection to valves, shower knobs, bathtub valves, and similar fixtures At the point where the copper pipes exit the wall in a horizontal manner, they have been secured to the wall with the use of such make shift techniques that include blocks of wood, wire, plumber's tape, bent nails, and the like. These means of securing the pipe to the wall can be awkward and ineffective in that a person constantly opening and closing a valve connected to a pipe secured in such a manner, will have a tendency to pull or push the valve which in turn causes the pipe in the wall to move and possibly weaken the joints. Other problems, such as rattling within the wall can occur if the pipe is not securely attached to the structure. Other fixtures such as shower heads have been secured in a similar fashion, again giving rise to rattling within the wall or structural weakening of the pipe joints.
To solve these problems, fittings were developed such as those described in the U.S. Pat. Nos. 2,773,708 and 3,021,103, the latter of which describes a means for fastening a plumbing fitting to a perforated strip through the use of a single fastening element such as a screw or a bolt. The pipe is then attached to the plumbing fitting. In this particular solution to the problem, the perforated strip has a flange running along the top of the strip that butts against the top portion of the bracket when the bracket is screwed into place. This flange prevents the bracket from rotating around the axis of the screw.
While this solution provides a secure method of attaching water pipes and the like to the frame of a house or a commercial construction project, it is time consuming to install and requires the use of a screw and a screw driver or other methods of attachments such as bolts or rivets.
Therefore, there exists a need for a fastener arrangement that is self locking and that would allow quicker, easier, and secure fastening of a copper pipe to the structure of a stud bay.
Therefore it an object of the present invention to provide an inexpensively manufactured, easy to use bracket that provides a secure connection between copper pipes and the structure of a dwelling.
It is a further object of the present invention to provide a connector that is self-locking when installed and is resistant to damage that frequently occurs during the rough phase of construction.